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Public Enquiry into the MidStaffordshire Hospital andNHS Foundation TrustEasy read of the report byRobert Francis QC about -----------------There are some difficult words inthis document. These words arein bold green letters. There is alist of the words and what theymean on page 10.You might like to have someoneto support you when read it.1
What was the review about?The report was published on 6thFebruary 2013.There were many terrible stories ofpatients not being fed or cleanedproperly at Mid Staffordshirehospital.But it had taken years for problemswith patient care to be takenseriously.This report looked into why theproblems at Mid Staffordshirehospital were not picked up andacted on earlier.The report was very big and had290 suggestions of how to makethings better.This is a summary of what thereport says.2
The main finding of the report wasthat everyone has to make surepatients are always put first.This did not always happen at MidStaffordshire hospital or at theorganisations that could havehelped.This means that all staff need towork together to make changes inthe way they work.For example, nurses and managersshould communicate with eachother more to talk about anyproblems they can see.3
The Big Goals: What the Report SuggestsHospital staff and patients should allagree on what is good care forpatients.All organisations should thenmake sure that good care happensfor everyone.They should also make a note ofwhen this does not happen so thecare can be made better.There should be more openness andhonesty if things do not look right.This means staff should be able totell someone if they are worriedabout patient care.It also means that if mistakes aremade, the hospital should be honestand say why things went wrong andmake changes to stop it happeningagain.Training and education for nursesshould include good patient careand working together for thepatient.4
Every person and organisationshould be held responsible for theiractions.Managers should make sure thehospital is a nice place to stay forpatients. All patients should beproperly cared for when they are inhospital.The managers also need to makesure the hospital is a good place towork. This means doctors andnurses are not scared to speakabout any problems.Individuals, teams andorganisations should be checkedregularly to make sure they aredoing a good job.This should make sure that patientcare keeps on getting better.This information should bepublished and easy to use soanyone can read about it.5
Further Ideas in the Francis ReportSenior managers could bechecked and if they are not doingtheir job properly, they should beremoved.Nurses should have more trainingdoing the job of looking afterpatients.Nurse training could include testingto show that they are a caringperson before they start their job.Each patient should have one mainnurse.Healthcare assistants help nurseswith patients in hospitals.The report said healthcareassistants should be registered (likenurses are) and should agree towork to a set of rules.It needs to be easier for the publicto see who is a nurse and who is ahealthcare assistant. For example,they could wear different uniforms.6
If things go wrong, patients andtheir families should be able tocomplain.The hospital should then provide afull answer and take actions so theproblem does not happen again.At the moment the Governmentsets up the rules. What shouldhappen is that people who actuallydo the job, like nurses, are involvedin making the rules.In this way, the rules would befollowed properly in hospitals. Thiswould mean better patient care.It is possible the events at MidStaffordshire hospital are happeningin other hospitals.The changes need to be carried outin all hospitals across the country sothat all patients are cared for safelyand with kindness.7
When will these changes happen?All organisations need to read thereport carefully and decide if theycan make the changes suggested.They need to decide when they canmake the changes.They should report each year to saywhat has been done to make thingsbetter.The Department of Health shouldalso publish a report each year tosay what has happened to makethings better.The Health Select Committee (agroup in Parliament made up ofMPs) check health services in theirnormal work at the moment.The report says this Committeeshould check how the services aremaking changes.8
Why was the poor care at Mid StaffordshireHospital allowed to happen?The Board at Mid Staffordshirehospital were the people in chargeand should have stopped theproblems happening.They did not listen to patients orstaff and so it felt like nobody caredat all.Other organisations who couldhave stopped the problems did notdo their checks properly.They were too slow to react to thewarning signs that things were notright at the hospital.The events at Mid Staffordshirehospital did not happen because ofone bad person.The whole system was not workingvery well and this must be changedto stop patients getting poor care orbeing harmed.9
Difficult Words used:BoardThe Board is a group of people whosejob is to run the hospital. It has thefinal say in decisions to do with thehospital.ManagersA lot of people work at a hospital. Thereare doctors and nurses who helppatients to get better when they aresick.The managers are the people who helprun the hospital, for example they lookafter the money it spends.Senior managers have very importantjobs as they are the leaders of thehospital and are in charge of all theworkers and that patients get good care.OrganisationsThere are many organisations that helpthe hospital do its job.All of these organisations had aresponsibility to make sure the problemswere noticed and to help fix them.However, this did not happen quicklyenough at Mid Staffordshire hospital.The Departmentof HealthThis is a Government department incharge of the policy and law to do withhealth and social care.10
Further Ideas in the Francis Report Senior managers could be checked and if they are not doing their job properly, they should be removed. Nurses should have more training doing the job of looking after patients. Nurse training could include testing to show that they are a caring person before they start their job. Each patient should have one main nurse. Healthcare assistants help nurses with .File Size: 983KBPage Count: 10
